OK after a teaser this weekend with a couple of games, a full spread will be available for the Labor Day Weekend. Starts on Thursday night and there will be a couple of good ones on Thursday. As we start the season there are some things that have my attention, both teams and coaches. Of the new coaches I'm very interested in 3 guys. Neal Brown at West Virginia...he did a helluva job at Troy and seems like he's primed to do well at W.Va. and be ready for a bigger job somewhere down the line. Chris Klieman at Kansas State ..holy cow he was so successful at North Dakota State that you have to say that this is a great pick for KState. I think KState is a place that the right guy can win, Bill Synder proved that. Is this guy going to be Bill Synder part Deux? Scott Satterfield at Louisville... had a great run at App State, and was ready for a move to the Power 5. Louisville is a bit of a mess right now, but they have proven in the past that they can do well, there is a committment to being good in football at Louisville, they are not just a basketball school. How could I leave out Mack Brown at UNC, well he's interesting but not a guy moving up from the minor leagues. He's a guy trying to recapture the glory days. Doesn't usually work out in football. I doubt if Mack can pull it off at UNC, sure he might have some decent teams but that's probably going to be it. I'll bet he doesn't last 3 years before he decides to hang it up and go back to ESPN. Same for Les Miles. Now the Games! Thursday...we have some ranked teams and a Holy War. Ga.Tech at #1 Clemson...not what the new Ga.Tech coach needed to start his career. Texas State at #12 Texas A&M ...just what the Dr. ordered for Jimbo. #14 Utah at BYU ... The Holy War. Utah is thought to be a possible Pac12 Championship Contender this year. I heard one guy say he thought they would go undefeated and make the CFP. This is Kalani Sitake's 4th year at BYU and he's 1 game above .500, don't know if he's on the hot seat but it has to be warm. He is one of their own though and has 2 bowl wins. UCLA at Cincinnati ...Not a good start last season for Chip and Cincy is supposed to be one of the best teams in the Group of 5 this season. Lose on the road to a Group of 5 team not a good start, esp if they get beat handily. Of course win and that is a good start. Fla A&M at UCF...the first game for Brandon Wimbush as a starter for UCF, couldn't ask for a better situation for him to get off to a good start. I hope he does. UCF again thought to be one of the best Group of 5 teams and Co-Favorites in the AAC with Cincinnati. Friday Night Lights. Wisconsin at USF ... Whisky coming off a mediocre year for them, traveling all the way down to Fla to play Charlie Strong's team. Don't know what to expect here. Purdue at Nevada ... Brian Brohm had a terrible bowl game, so the Boilermakers need to get that debacle behind them. Everybody is waiting to see what Rondale Moore will do this year after a spectacular freshman season. He was the most exciting player in college football last year. Col State at Colorado ...don't know much about either team. But interstate rivalries are always good theater. Played annually at Bronco's Stadium in Denver. Oklahoma State at Oregon State. Mike Gundy always seems to have a high flying offense and QB at Ok State, but he hasn't named a starter at QB and won't till game time he says. Oregon State hasn't been very good lately. But Big12 vs Pac12 is always a good game, both conferences tend to be offensive oriented. Sat ..full slate of games even if more than a few have exhibition written all over them. FAU at Ohio State ..the debut of Ryan Day and Justin Fields vs everybody's coach you like to hate...Lane Kiffin, who will feature Charlie Weis Jr as his OCoord. N.Iowa at Iowa State ...Matt Campbell is one of those coaches on the rise, he's got a returning QB which in college is always a good thing. Most predictions are for the Cyclones to be one of the top B12 teams. This a good warmup game...maybe! S. Alabama at Nebraska....Scott Frost's 2nd season, he finished strong last year going 4-2 after a terrible start, played Ohio State at Columbus very tough. A lot of anticipation for this season for the Huskers, their QB is mentioned in the Heisman conversation. I imagine the Huskers will bury this Alabama team. Indiana State at Kansas...the debut of the Mad Hatter! For his sake I hope he gets off to a good start, but he doesn't have much to work with at KU right now. James Madison at West Virgina...nothing really exciting about this game except it's the debut of Neal Brown. E. Washington at Washington....another exhibition game, UW starting one of those transfer QB's, Jacob Eason whose father played for Notre Dame, and was at one time a 5 star QB who was going to be the future star at Georgia. But he's back home now. Duke at Alabama ..well it's a neutral site game. I feel sorry for Duke. I hope they enjoy playing in Hotlanta in the fabulous Mercedes Benz Stadium. Idaho at Penn State ...meh ...exhibition game. Georgia State at Tenn...I think there is some buzz around the Vol program. Georgia State has been in the past a very good program, not so much right now. Northwestern at Stanford....Both elite academic schools, one is breaking in a new QB who was at one time a 5 star kid headed for Clemson glory and Stanford has a highly rated QB who has had a good career at the Farm and a potential NFL future. Both tough hard nosed football teams coached by hard nosed tough coaches. Big 10/Pac 12 matchup always good. Stephen F. Austin at Baylor ..why is this on the list? Well Matt Rhule who I thought was nuts to take this job in the wake of the Art Briles mess, has actually proved me wrong and has done well given what he walked into at Baylor. He has a returning QB who was behind Baker Mayfield at Lake Travis HS in Austin, and who was a very good HS QB and has been a perfect fit for Rhules offense. Baylor could surprise a lot of people this year. Matt Rhule has done a great job. Georgia at Vanderbilt. ...seems so odd to have a conference game be your opening game. Georgia should just roll over Vandy. Oregon at Auburn...well it's really at Arlington at Jerry World..but never mind. A huge game for both squads, esp Oregon. Everybody thinks that with a QB like Justin Hebert coming back that the Ducks are the odds on favorites to win the Pac12 and a win here would give them a shot a staying in the CFP conversation. Auburn is considered the most dangerous SEC team not named Georgia, Alabama or LSU. They have a NFL defensive line. Ducks win here will be a big one not just for them but for the Pac 12 as a conference. New Mexico State at Wash State. ...so on paper the Cougars should roll easily, right? Except Leach has a bit of a history of playing down to competition like this in the openers. They brought in the top FCS passer in a kid from E.Washington named Gabe Gudrud and you figure this kid will be Gardner Minshew without the stache...but nope..he's beaten out by Anthony Gordon who spent 3 years paying his dues as the backup. I expect Wazzu to win, and win handily as New Mexico State is terrible, but again I'll hold my breath on this one based on history of closer than you think games vs low competition for Leach in the opening game. La. Tech at Texas ...the Sam Ehlinger Show will be on the air, as we have no running backs! We had 5 but 4 have bit the dust and the last one standing was a converted WR. Defense has talent but not much experience. La.Tech not a pushover. Could be closer than expected esp if the Longhorns are peaking ahead to LSU. Sunday Night Houston at Oklahoma...the debut of Jalen Hurts, much anticipated for sure. OU has revamped it's defense bringing in a new DCoord who did a good job at Wash State with Leach and who was at Ohio State last year. Houston of course has a new coach in Dana Holgerson from W.Va. I think they finally have a coach who isn't using the job as a spring board to a Power 5 job. They also have one of the most dynamic QB's in D'Eric King that you'll see this year in College Football. Holgerson knows how to coach this type of QB. OU should win, they have more talent and depth. Monday Night Notre Dame at Louisville. This should be a game the Irish win and get backups playing time. Louisville is a shell of the team that Lamar Jackson led to the upset of FSU. They have a new coach and a new system. I think their new coach is an excellent hire as he's one of the 3 guys I'm watching due to their success at the FCS level. But the Irish should have too much fire power and depth for them right now. Of course like our Gator friends, I'll ultimately be happy to get a win and walk away with no injuries. But a blowout would sure make my weekend.
Excellent preview of games in week 1 Terry. Now I will have to go back and change many of my picks are rearrange the confidence points.
As everyone else does I always get jacked for the first game but usually they don't mean a whole lot... not for UF anyway. This year was completely different..... the game meant a ton to the general psyche of Florida's season prospects and a loss would have been devastating. Fortunately the Gators that showed up vs. Vandy, LSU and South Carolina last year and who refused to lose were the same Gators that were on display on Saturday night. They toughed it out and that makes my college football watching this coming weekend a lot more enjoyable to be sure. Now.... what upsets do you see as possible this weekend? Cincy over UCLA looks like an easy pic... How about harder ones.... USF over Wisconsin? Boise over FSU? Houston over Oklahoma?
Ralph I was very impressed with Williams your new Qb. With any time to throw he's gonna kill some teams.
I hope so Dave, and follow in your thoughts. He didn’t do too bad in his first start. Especially with an offensive line that gave up 10 sacks. Even with the early loss it could be a great season for him
Whoops forgot this game! Middle Tennessee at Michigan... Harbaugh has been in the news on all sorts of topics. Many feel that this is the year Harbaugh and Michigan win the B1G, beat Ohio State and make the CFP. It starts with a win in the opener.
I realize this is weird but Michigan being good makes for better college football. Harbaugh who I’ve always admired has to get to the big stage just to satisfy his own ego. Go Wolverines
Everyone seems to be overlooking MSU who is coming off a bad year with awful QB play. They have a new OC and they just might surprise the favorites in their division.
Interesting Lane Kiffin interview; An interview with Lane Kiffin, who brings FAU to Ohio State as part of his backward career: Doug Lesmerises
Didn't like Kiffin when he was at Ohio State, but hopefully he has matured as much as he thinks he has, for his sake.
Listened to Herbie this morning, he's sticking with Texas as one of the teams he thinks will make the CFP. He pretty much bases it off of he thinks Sam Ehlinger is a lot like Tim Tebow both in playing style and leadership. Didn't seem to know about how busted up our RB room is though.
Maybe should have included Boise State at FSU, it's not really a big game in the overall sense of the season. Neither team is going to contend for the CFP. FSU is sort of a mess right now, Willie Taggert's coaching ability is certainly in question after last season. Has he righted the ship who knows. Boise State seems to have lost some of their panache since Chris Pederson left for Washington. They are still a very good Mountain West Program but they don't have the national profile that they once had after some stunning bowl victories. Win here and maybe some of that comes back, they aren't in the top 25 but could creep up and they are expected to be one of the contenders for the Mountain West title. FSU loses here, and Taggert's seat will get even warmer.
Never too early for stirring the pot on the Coaching Carousel. I mean it's Week 1 and a long way to go, coaching fortunes will rise and fall before Dec 1. ESPN has an article on coaches who might be moving up to bigger jobs, coaches who might leave for the NFL, Coordinators who might move up, etc. It's a big list with just about all the names. The most likely big job to open after this season is of course USC, where everybody expects that Clay Helton will be canned if he doesn't win the Pac 12 Championship. The replacement names include of course Urban Meyer, but also James Franklin at Penn State. College football coaching carousel: Who could be on the move?
As we go into Week 1 you might want to look at the 247 Talent composite for this year. It's a ranking of the 85 man rosters based on recruiting rank of each player. Not shocking that Alabama leads in talent. Ohio State is second, and Georgia is third...the shocker is that USC is 4th, they have certainly underachieved with the level of talent they have on that roster, as has LSU which is 5th. Clemson is top 10 at #9, so you could easily see that they have overachieved a little. 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Georgia 4. USC 5. LSU 6. FSU 7. Texas 8. OU 9. Clemson 10. Penn State 2019 College Football Team Talent Composite